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Pinoy_Blogfest 2.1 reaches out to Visayas bloggers

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24 Aug 2011

Pinoy_Blogfest 2.1 reaches out to Visayas bloggers

Gadgets Magazine, organizers of Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0, will be taking their show on the road by holding a regional forum for Visayas-based bloggers with Pinoy_Blogfest 2.1. This will be held from 8:00 am to 12:00 nn on Monday, 5 September 2011, at the MM Audi A of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City.

Carrying on the theme Social Media as a Change Agent, the program for the regional forum will consist of the following topics and resource persons:

Social Media as a Change Agent by Gadgets publisher Maribelle Alba gives an overview of the development and evolution of social media as a platform for human interaction.

Keeping Safe in the Digital World by gadgetsmagazine.com.ph online editor John Nieves provides pointers on how to avoid the pitfalls of identity theft, spamming and other cybercrimes.

Purchasing Power: Making that Gadget Purchase Count by Gadgets Magazine associate editor Michelle Toledo discusses basic tips on how to assess if a gadget offers value-for-money.

Pinoy_Blogfest presentor Coca-Cola will also showcase their global Live Positively advocacy, and how this is translated into specific programs and projects that benefit local communities.

Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), a Negros-based NGO, will share their own experience about how, as a Kiva field partner, they are able to generate funds online for their micro-finance beneficiaries.

Pinoy_Blogfest 2.1 is presented by Gadgets Magazine in partnership with the University of St. La Salle MassCom Society. Contact John Alfred E. Lucot at email: johnalfred_lucot [at] yahoo.com for registration information or you may email blogfest [at] gadgetsmagazine.com.ph.

Samsung Claims Kubrick Invented Tablets

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Gadgets Team

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24 Aug 2011

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Just when I thought the legal battle between Apple and Samsung couldn’t take any more interesting turns, an unexpected yet curiously logical twist comes out.

Samsung claims that Stanley Kubrick, the acclaimed film maker whose works include A Clockwork Orange, envisioned the iPad’s design in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Since the film was released in 1968, this obviously precedes Apple’s patent design in 2004 by several decades. (click on the screen grab below to view the clip)

Although this documentation is still sealed from the public, Foss Patents managed to take a peek at a redacted version. The excerpt from Samsung is as follows:

Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of a still image taken from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In a clip from that film lasting about one minute, two astronauts are eating and at the same time using personal tablet computers. The clip can be downloaded online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8pQVDyaLo. As with the design claimed by the D’889 Patent, the tablet disclosed in the clip has an overall rectangular shape with a dominant display screen, narrow borders, a predominately flat front surface, a flat back surface (which is evident because the tablets are lying flat on the table’s surface), and a thin form factor.

Samsung also includes “The Tomorrow People” a British television series that aired in the 1970’s, as having depicted a design similar to Apple’s tablet.

In retrospect, Samsung’s strategic legal move make sense since a majority of today’s technology was first envisioned by artists before it was made into reality.

If you want a recap of our coverage of the battle of Samsung vs Apple, visit the links below:

Apple sues Samsung for allegedly copying the iPad

Revenge of the Sammy – Samsung files suit against Apple in Europe and Asia

War of the patents heats up, Samsung files new suits against Apple in the US

Samsung is forced to give Apple a sneak peek

Samsung wants to see Apple’s unannounced products

Source(s): FossPatents, CNET

Studies say surfing the web at work increases your productivity

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

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Studies say surfing the web at work increases your productivity

We’re almost always online here at Gadgets Magazine, but not all companies enjoy such lax internet restrictions like us. Some places restrict access to the internet to only a couple of productivity sites or more often than not, bans the use of the internet completely. Well, it seems that restricting web access is counterproductive – a study done by Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim of the National University of Singapore entitled “Impact of Cyberloafing on Psychological Engagement” says that web browsing refreshes tired workers and improves productivity.

Here’s how they did it: they formed three groups which basically did the same thing, which was to highlight all the letter e’s in a particular article. The two groups – rest-break and web-browse – would then take a break after 20 minutes of doing the task, with the rest-break group being able to do anything they wished except browse the web and the web-browse group, obviously browse any website they wanted. The last group (control) was assigned to another simple task after the first.

The researchers observed that the people who browsed the web were significantly more productive and effective at the tasks than those in the other two groups and reported lower levels of mental exhaustion, boredom and higher levels of engagement.

So the next time your boss cites you for browsing the web at work, you can always say it’s making you more productive – just don’t blame us when he doesn’t see it your way.

Source: Wall Street Journal

PLDT partners with Microsoft and Dimension Data to launch private cloud computing solutions

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

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PLDT partners with Microsoft and Dimension Data to launch private cloud computing solutions

One of the biggest problems that businesses face is creating and managing their IT infrastructure. Solutions and applications like Microsoft Exchange for enterprise-level applications require large amounts of capital to implement, not to mention any Microsoft Exchange Monitoring one might need to maintain this network. In businesses that already have programs like Microsoft Exchange for example, 60% of them use the older version, with the cost of licenses being the main hurdle. But what if businesses could turn these capital expenditures to operating expenditures, allowing them to expand their software capabilities without shelling out ridiculous amounts of money building their infrastructure?

PLDT, together with Microsoft and Dimension Data has the answer under the PLDT AppFarm Private Cloud Services portfolio. The service includes Microsoft’s productivity and infrastructure software offerings which include the latest version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft Sharepoint Server 2010, Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V. Under the three-way agreement, PLDT will carry and distribute Microsoft applications under a service provider licensing agreement (SPLA) while Dimension Data will provide the necessary infrastructure and technical support for all projects using its “Onecloud” framework.

The service model is based on a “Private-Cloud” approach, where businesses can fully outsource end-to-end implementation of their chosen Microsoft solutions on a turn-key arrangement, all the whil ensuring complete data security and maintaining full control of the system, with the infrastructure residing at their own premises.

Andy Warhol houses (and protects) your Apple

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

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Andy Warhol houses (and protects) your Apple

Maybe it’s because I just finished watching “Exit Through the Gift Shop” or maybe it’s because of the big Andy Warhol-inspired portrait of myself hanging on the wall. But if I did decide to spend on a cover for any of my Apple devices, the Andy Warhol protective cases would make a great first choice. Classic, iconic, and definitely commemorative of our time, these cases are in a complete league of their own, thus need no immediate replacing with the newer (and probably less cooler) designs.

Designs include drawing and film images of Elvis, the banana, Warhol’s telephone, and the Empire State Building and begin at almost $40.

Source: Trendhunter

ASRock releases Gen3 and Fatal1ty branded motherboards

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

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ASRock releases Gen3 and Fatal1ty branded motherboards

ASRock’s made a big push today at the recently concluded Philippine leg of their Fatal1ty Global tour held in the EDSA Shangri-La with the release of their Gen3 motherboard series, which included the Fatal1ty branded version that’s going to be marketed towards competitive gamers.

The company is particularly proud of the new tech in the boards which they say will be the first such board to work with PCI Express 3.0 specification, offering more bandwidth to enable faster communication between components inside a system.

Also present during the event was Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, who has collaborated with ASRock to release motherboards aimed at competitive gamers.

His Fatal1ty line of boards which include the Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3 and the Fatal1ty 990FX Professional have all the bells and whistles that you’d expect from a high-end, gaming board which include hi-end components and construction.

Noteworthy features of the new boards include XFast Lan, which ASRock helps in reducing latency in games by prioritizing gaming traffic, XFast USB which boosts the access speeds for USB and NVIDIA’s NF200 chip which generates more PCI-E lanes for SLI and CrossFireX setups. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing and availability yet.

Razer says PC gaming is not dead, something big coming on August 26

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

1

Razer says PC gaming is not dead, something big coming on August 26

Razer, the go-to brand for PC gaming enthusiasts is up to something big. The gaming brand took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal to address an open letter to Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s Playstation and Nintendo’s Wii consoles that PC gaming is not dead. The letter addresses the perception that the PC gaming scene is dead or dying (it’s not) and states that “are more than 300 million PC gamers worldwide and this legion is growing every day” and that come August 26 “we(they) will seek to end the silence and bring a new age of openness and innovation to all gaming.” What that means exactly is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure – we’ll be eagerly anticipating the announcement on the anointed date. Want to know more? You can go to www.pcgamingisnotdead.com.

iTunes 10.4.1 is released

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Gadgets Team

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23 Aug 2011

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The most recent update to Apple’s media software has just been released, which has been modified for better integration with the new OS X Lion.

One of its most notable enhancements is the full-screen compatibility with the new operating system, and the rest addresses prevailing problems in the software.

iTunes 10.4.1 provides a number of improvements, including:

Fixes a problem where the media keys on some third-party keyboards work inconsistently with iTunes

Addresses issues with adding artwork to songs and videos

Resolves an issue which may cause iTunes to become unresponsive when purchasing an HD movie

Fixes a problem where iTunes may take longer than expected to open after waking your Mac from sleep

Addresses issues with VoiceOver support

If iTunes is your media management program of choice, either head on over to HERE to get the update or you may do it from within the software itself.

Who’s suing who – an easy to understand graphic of the current patent war [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Gadgets Team

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22 Aug 2011

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Who’s suing who – an easy to understand graphic of the current patent war [INFOGRAPHIC]

So Google bought Motorola Mobility a couple of days ago. While Motorola has a lot of things going for it, a lot of people agree that one of the main reasons why El Googs bought it was Motorola’s burgeoning patent warchest – 17,000 patents and counting, which pretty much means that they now have enough ammunition to fight back patent litigation. That’s a good thing, as patents are now being used to pummel rivals into submission, something that Apple has done repeatedly to their competitors over the years. That’s not to say other companies are faultless – figuring out who’s suing who in this suit-happy world has become a challenge even for people who cover the technology beat. To understand the current patent war, the folks at Reuters have compiled this nice infographic to make it all easier to understand.

Source: Reuters

Critteroos App makes learning about animals more entertaining

Apps

Gadgets Team

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22 Aug 2011

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Critteroos App makes learning about animals more entertaining

You may not know this but my first job immediately after I graduated from college was a teaching position at a local private school, and as part of my application, I had to read a children’s story (with as much gusto and pep as most Kindergarten teachers do). I chose The Little Red Hen because I figured I could show off my “animal sounds” while giving a lesson on proper work ethics and personal initiative. Of course, I’d be embarrassed to do anything like that now. Good thing technology has a way of not only saving you from making funny farmyard animal noises, it allows children to learn about them more efficiently.

Critteroos, a new app for iPad and iPhone uses stock images of animals and gives them life through an interactive game. Designer Clement Mok uses the CMCD Visual Symbols library to create an imaginative series of iPad education software. From learning the different animal sounds, to mix-and-match animal top/bottom halves to animal image and name pairing, children have a more entertaining way to develop their memory and vocabulary skills. But not to stunt creativity, kids can also let their imaginations run wild by creating “Critteroos” or mismatched animals for their own personal amusement which can then be saved to the iPhoto library.

Critteroos sells for $2 on iTunes

27,000 Koreans suing Apple for privacy violations

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Gadgets Team

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22 Aug 2011

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27,000 Koreans suing Apple for privacy violations

Remember the whole tracking bruhaha that Apple was involved a few months ago? Well, 27,000 Koreans still do, and now they’re suing the electronics giant for compensation and are asking for about $932 apiece. While the amount of damage that the suit could do financially isn’t all that bad (which comes out to about $25 million plus change) considering that the company has more money than the US government, the case might set a precedent and encourage more people to take legal action against Apple which will definitely hurt the company in the long run.

Source: PC World

Win an iPad 2 in Trend Micro Philippines’ Contest on Facebook

Gadgets Team

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22 Aug 2011

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Win an iPad 2 in Trend Micro Philippines’ Contest on Facebook

Trend Micro, one of the leading providers of cloud-based security, is holding a contest on Facebook with an iPad 2 as its grand prize.

The best part about the contest is that its free and simple to join. If you’re above 17 years old, you simply have to “Like” the Trend Micro Pilipinas page on Facebook, fill up the registration form, and hope for the best (or rather the iPad 2). Referring the page to your friends gives you more chances of winning. (update 8/24/11: Facebook Mobile not supported)

The contest runs from August 19, 2011 – September 16, 2011.

Mobile Malware: What you need to know [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Gadgets Team

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21 Aug 2011

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Mobile Malware: What you need to know [INFOGRAPHIC]

Smartphones are fast becoming the dominant device for communication these days, and it’s not surprising that it’s experiencing the same kind of attention from malware and virus writers as PCs and notebooks have in the past. Many users are blithely unaware of the dangers of malicious software and code. To give you a crash course on the harmful things that’s floating around in the web, we found this particularly handy infographic detailing what you need to know and what you need to do to protect your smartphone and yourself from the creepy-crawlies on the web. Also, if anyone knows who wrote this, please do tell us so we can credit him/her properly. (click on the link above to see the full infographic)

Gainward announces worldwide overclocking competition

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Gadgets Team

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21 Aug 2011

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Gainward announces worldwide overclocking competition

Do you have what it takes to take your Gainward GPU to the next level? If you think you can overclock your Gainward video card like a boss, then prove it. Gainward has just announced the the worldwide overclocking competition which will run from the 29th of Aug to the 26th of Sep 2011. The contest is open to all comers with a Gainward GPU and own 3DMark 11. Up for grabs are Gainward video cards from their Phantom series, hi-end PSUs, coolers, SSD drives and wads of cash. Interested? Then hit up this link to find out the official rules and contest specifics.

The week in review: August 15 – 19

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Gadgets Team

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20 Aug 2011

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Last week was a crazy one for the tech world. If you don’t want to be left out of the geek talk this coming week, it’d be best to check the links below of the hot stories you might’ve missed.

Reviews